¶ A treatise concernynge the diuision betwene the spirytualtie and temporaltie ⧠This lyttell booke declareth dyuers causes wherby diuision hath rysen betwene the spiritualtie and temporaltie and partly sheweth howe they maye be brought to a vnite And if they that may do moost good towarde the sayd vnitie wyll take the artycles of this treatise as lyttel tytlinges to bring som weyghtier thynges to theyr mynde concernyng the same and thanne by theyr wysdomes wyll adde them here vnto and as they shall thynke necessarie to see them all put in due execucion I thynke veryly that in shorte tyme they shall brynge this matter to good effecte to the honoure of god to the comon welth and quietnes of all the kynges subiectes ¶ Dyuers articles ' whiche haue bene a speciall cause of the diuision that is betwyxt the spiritualtie and the temporaltie in this realme The fyrst Chapiter WHo may remembre the state of this realme nowe in these dayes without great heuynes and sorow of herte For there as in tymes past hath reygned charite mekenes concorde and peace reygneth nowe enuye pryde diuision and stryfe that nat only betwene lay men and lay men but also betwene religious and religious / and betwene preestes and relygyous and that is yet more to be lamented also betwene preestes and preestes Whiche diuision hath ben so vniuersal / that it hath ben a great vnquietnes and a great breache of charitie through all the realme and part of it hathe rysen by reason of a great singularite / that religious ê‘sons and prestes haue hadde to theyr estate of lyuynge whereby many of theym haue thoughte theyr estate most perfyte before al other And some of them haue thereby exalted them selfe in theyr owne syght so hyghe that they haue rysen into suche a goostly pryde that they haue in maner disdayned and dyspysed other that haue nat lyued in suche perfection as they thynke they doo And of this hathe folowed that some of theym haue hadde vnsyttyng wordes of the other callynge them flatterers dissimulers and hypocrites And they haue called the other agayne proude persons couetous vayne gloryous and louers of worldely delytes and suche other ¶ And an other parte of this dyuysyon hath rysen by dyuersities of opynyons that haue ben vpon the auctorities powers and iurisdiction of spirituall men amonge them selfe And vpon these dyuysions some lay men haue in tyme past fauored the one parte and some the other whereby the people haue greately ben inquyeted But I wote nat fully by what occasyon it is that nowe of late the great multytude of all the laye people haue founde defaute as well at prestes as relygyouse / so ferfurthe that it is nowe in maner noted through all the realme / that there is a greate dyuysyon bytwene the spyritualtie and the temporaltie And verylie it is great pitie that suche a noyse shulde sprynge and goo abrode And some alledge dyuers causes why it is so noysed Fyrste they saye that neyther prestes nor religious kepe nat the perfeccyon of theyr ordre to the honour of god and good example of the people as they shulde do but that som of them procure theyr owne honour and call it the honour of god and rather couet to haue rule ouer the people than to profyte the people And that some couet theyr bodyly ease and worldely welthe in meate and drynke and suche other / more than commenly any temporal man doeth And that some serue god for a worldly laude and to be magnified therfore more than for the pure loue of god And some laye men saye farther / that though religious men haue varied with religious / and that som prestes haue varyed also with religious in som pointes concernynge the preeminence of theyr perfection as is said before that yet in suche thynges as perteyne to the mayntenaunce of the worldely honour of the churche and of spirituall men whiche they call the honour of god and in such thynges as perteyn to the encrece of the riches of spiritual meÌ„ religious or seculer they say they agree all in one And therfore they say that all spiritual men as to the multitude / be more diligent to enduce the people to suche thynges as shall brynge riches to the churche as to gyue money to trentals and to founde chaunteries and obites and to obteyne pardons to go vpon pylgremages / and suche other than they be to enduce them to the payment of theyr dettes / to make restitutions for such wronges as they haue done / or to doo the werkes of mercye to theyr neyghboures that be poore and nedye / and that somtyme be also in right extreme necessite ¶ And for as moche as it is most commonly sene / that amonge a great multitude there be many that worke rather vpon wyll than vpon reason And that though they haue a good zele / yet many tymes they lacke good ordre and discretion whiche is the mother of al vertue Therfore some persons thynkynge that worldely honoure and ryches lettethe greatly deuocion so moche that as they thynke they canne not stande togyther haue holden opinion that it is not lawfull to the churche to haue any possessions And some takynge a more meane waye therin haue sayde / that as they thynke it is lawfull and also expedient that the churche haue possessions but they thynke / that the great haboundance that is in the churche / doth great hurt / induceth in many of them a loue to worldely thynges and letteth and in maner strangleth the loue of god And therfore they thynke that it were good to take awaye that is to moche / and to leue that is sufficient And some also as of a policie to pulle ryches fro the churche haue inueyed ayenste all suche thynges as brynge ryches to the churche And because great ryches haue comme to the churche for prayenge for soules in purgatorie haue by wordes affyrmed that there is no purgatorie And that grauntynge of pardons riseth of couetyse of the churche and profyteth nat the people / and that pylgremages be of no effecte / and that the churche may make no lawes / and suche other thynges / as foundynge of chaunteries making of brotherhedes and many mo Wherein they shewe outwardly to ryse agaynst all the thynges before rehersed and to dispyse them and yet they knowe and beleue in theyr hertes that all these thynges be of them selfe ryght good and profytable as they be in dede yf they were ordered as they shulde be And somme persones there be that throughe grace fynde defaute onely at the abusion and mysse order of suche thynges and speke nothyng against the thinges selfe neither of purgatory / pylgremages / settynge vppe of ymages / or suche oher For they knowe well they be ordeyned of god and that the mysorder rysethe only of man for couetyse singularitie or some other suche lyke defaute throughe perswasyon and dysceyte of the goostly enemye And thoughe some men haue
haue ben partly occasioners to theyr offences them selfe as it is sayd before And this demenour hath thrugh a longe contynuaunce norysshed some parte of this dyuysion and so wyll it do as long as it coÌ„tinueth And also where by the lawe / preestes ought to be at the churche on sondayes holy dayes and help forth the seruice of god in the quere and oughte also whan they be there to be ordered by the curate yet neuer the lesse many men that haue chapleynes wyll not suffre them to come in the parysshe churche and whan they be there they wyll not haue them ordered by the curate but after them selfe ne see them be in the quere but sendeth them many tymes on other errandes and that in worldly matters as customably as they do other seruauntes and many suche chapleynes shewe them selfe euydently by theyr diligence in that behalfe / to be better contente to do that busynes than to be in the quere / and that maketh the curates and the neyghbours bothe to thynke a great lyghtnes in them and do discoÌ„mende them for it and whan they here of it they be also discontented and theyr maysters bothe and saye the other haue no thynge to do with it and commenly other chapleynes wyll take parte in suche matters wherupon dyuers grudges and variances haue risen in many places / that haue done greatte hurte in this behalf And as it is in this case of chapleynes and seruyng prestes so it is also of chantry prestes brotherhoode prestes in many places And as it semethe these articles myght be holpen thus that is to say / that it be prohibyted vpon a payne that no preeste shall hereafter customablye vse huntynge / hawkynge cardes / dyce / nor suche other games vnsyttynge for a preeste though percase he maye as for a recreacion vse some honest disportes for a tyme ne customably vse the ale house or tauerne And if any preste vse any such vnlawful games or other demenour not conuenient for a preest so moche that the people be offended by it and fynde defaut at it that than yf he be warned therof by an abbot and a Iustyce of the peace of the shire / where he is dwellynge and yet he do not reforme hymselfe that than besyde the sayde payne he be by conuocation suspended fro ministryng the sacramentes and be disabled to take any seruyce tyll he be enhabled agayne by the kynge and the ordinarie And that it be ferther enacted / that no man shall haue a chapleyne hereafter / but he haue a stondynge house / and that onely in his stondyng house and none to haue a rydyng chapleyne vnder the degree of a baron / and that he that hath a stondyng house and hathe also a chapleyne shall vppon a payn prouide for his chapleyn a secret lodgyng with locke key / that he maye lodge fro the commen recourse of the laye seruantes and vse hym selfe therin conueniently in redynge / prayer or contemplatyon / or suche other labours and busynes as be conuenyent for a preeste to vse ¶ An other cause of the sayd dyuysion The seuenth Chapyter AN other occasion of the said dyuysion hath bene / by reason of dyuers sutes that haue ben taken in the spiritual courtes of offyce that is called in latyn ex officio so that the ê‘ties haue not knoweÌ„ who hath accused them therupoÌ„ they haue somtyme ben caused to abiure in causes of heresies somtyme to do penauÌ„ce or to pay great sommes of money for redemynge therof whiche vexacion charges the parties haue thought haue come to them by the iudges and the offycers of the spyrytuall courte / for they haue knowen none other accusers / and that hath caused moche people in diuers partyes of this realme to thynke great malice and parcialytie in the spiritual iudges And yf a man be ex officio brought before the ordynarye for heresy / yf he be notably suspected of heresye he muste pourge hym selfe after the wyl of the ordinary / or be accursed and that is by the lawe extra de hereticis Ca. Ad abolendam And that is thoughte by many to be a very harde lawe for a man may be suspected and nat gyltie and so be dryuen to a purgacioÌ„ without profe or with out offence in hym or be accursed and it appereth de hereticis .li. vi in the chapiter In fidei fauorem that they that be accursed and also partyes to the same offens may be wytnes in heresie and in the chapiter accusatus pag. licet it appereth that yf a man be sworne to saye the trouthe concernynge heresie as well of hym selfe as of other / and he fyrste confesseth nothynge and after contrarye to his fyrst sayenge he appeleth bothe hym selfe and other yf it appere by manyfest tokens that he doeth it nat of lyghtnes of mynde ne of hatred / nor for corruption of moneye that than his wytnes in fauoure of the faythe shall stonde as well agaynste hym selfe as agaynste other and yet hit appereth euidentlye in the same courte and in the same matter that he is a periured persone This is a daungerous lawe and more lyke to cause vntrewe and vnlawfulle men to condempne innocentes than to condempne offenders And it helpeth lyttell that if there be tokens / that it is nat done of hatred / nor for corruption of money that it shulde be taken for some tyme a wolfe may shew hym selfe in the apparelle of a lambe And yf the iudge be parcyall suche tokens may be soner accepted than truely shewed And in the chapiter there that begynneth Statuta quedam / it is decreed that yf the Bysshoppe or other enquerours of heresy se that any greate daunger myghte come to the accusours or wytnes of heresie by the great power of them that be accused that than they maye commaunde that the names of the accusoures or wytnesse shall nat be shewed but to the bysshop or enquerours / or suche other lerned men as be called to them and that shall suffice thoughe they be nat shewed to the partie And for the more indempnitie of the sayde accusoures and wytnesse it is there decreed that the bysshoppe or inqueroures maye enioyne suche as they haue shewed the names of suche wytnes vnto to kepe them close vpon payn of excommunication for disclosyng that secrete without theyr lycens And surely this is a sore lawe / that a manne shall be condempned and nat knowe the names of them that be causers therof ¶ And though the sayd lawe seme to be made vpon a good consideracion for the indempnitie of the accusours and wytnes yet it semeth that that consyderacyon can nat suffyce to proue the lawe reasonable For it semeth that the accusoures and wytnes myghte be saued fro daunger by another way / and that is by this way If the bysshop or inquerours drede that the accusoures and wytnes might take hurt as is sayd before than myght they shewe it to the kynge and to his
true as is reported that there shulde be so great a desyre in some spyrytuall men to haue men abiured or haue the extreme punysshement for heresie / as it is sayde there is For as some haue reported yf any woll wytnes that a man hath spoken any thynge that is heresie though he speke it onely of an ignoraunce or of a passyon or if he canne by interrogatoryes and questions be dryuen to confesse any thynge / that is prohybyted by the churche anone they wyll dryue hym to abiure or holde hym atteynted without examining the intent or cause of his sayenge or whether he had a mynde to be refourmed or nat and that is a verye soore way our lorde be more mercyfull to our soules than so greuously to punysshe vs for euery lyght defaut And here some saye that bycause there is so greate a desyre in spyrytuall men to haue menne abiure / and to be noted with heresye / and that some as it were of a polycye do noyse it that the royaulme is full of heretyckes more than it is in dede that it is very peryllous that spyrytuall men shulde haue auctorytie to arrest a man for euery lyght suspection or complaynte of heresye tyll that desyre of punysshement in spyrytuall men be ceassed and goone but that they shulde make processe agaynst them to brynge theym in vppon payne of cursynge and thanne yf they tary fourty dayes the kynges lawes to brynge them in by a wrytte De excommunicato capiendo and so to be broughte fourthe oute of the kynges Gaole to aunswere But surely as it is somewhat touched before in the .vii. chap. it semeth that the church in tyme past hath don what they coulde to brynge about that they might punysshe heresie of them selfe / without callynge for any helpe therin of the seculer power ¶ And therefore they haue made lawes that heretykes myghte be arrested and put in pryson / and stockes yf nede were / as appereth Clementinis de hereticis Ca. multorum querela And after at the speciall callyng on of the spiritualtie / it was enacted by parlyament that ordynaries myght arrest men for heresie for summe men thynke that the sayde Clementyne was nat of effect in the kynges lawe to arrest any man for heresie But if a man were openly and notably suspected of heresie / and that there were sufficient recorde and wytnes agaynst hym / there were also a doubte that he wolde flee and nat appere wherby he myghte enfecte other it semeth conuenient that he be arested by the body but nat vpon euery lyght complaynt that full lightly may be vntrewe And it wyll be ryghte expedient that the kynges highnes and his counsaylle loke specyally vpon this matter and nat to ceasse / tylle hit be brought to more quietnes than it is yet and to se with great diligēce that pride couetise nor worldly loue be no iudges nor innocentes be punysshed ne yet that wylfull offenders go nat without dewe correction ¶ An other cause of this diuision ¶ The .ix. Chapiter AN other occasion of this diuision hath risen by the extremities that haue ben shewed in sutes taken in the spyrytuall courtes by spyrytuall men for there hath therby risen an opiniō among moche people / that a man were as good or better to let a spyrytuall man haue at the begynnyng all that he demaūdeth as to stryue with hym in the spyrytuall lawe for it In so moche / that as it is sayde suche extremities haue bene vsed in the spirituall lawe for tythes that no prescription / custome cōposition nor other plee shall be admytted in the spyrytuall lawe agaynst them And surely yf that be trewe it is a great parcyalyte and a great denyeng of Iustyce And therfore it wolde be refourmed And as for mortuaries they be adnulled all redy by statute But yet begynnethe to ryse oone thynge to maynteyne the fyrst dyuysion concernynge suche mortuaryes yf it be suffered to contynue and that is / that many curates / nat regardynge the kynges statute in that behalfe perswade theyr parysshens whan they be sycke to beleue that they can nat be saued but they restore them as moche as the olde mortuarie wolde haue amounted to And surelye the Curates that by that meanes get any recompence by gyfte or by quest are bounde in conscience to restytucyon For he is deceyued in his gyfte or bequest For it procedeth nat of a free libertie / but vppon that vntrue infourmacyon And lyke as a contracte wherby a man is deceiued in that thyng that is solde holdeth nat in conscience as yf a manne selle copper for golde or wyne myxte with water for pure wyne and so it is whan a man maketh a gyfte or a bequeste vpon an vntrue surmyse And that no man is bounden in conscyence to restore for his mortuarye nowe sythe the statute of Mortuaryes was made / it maye appere thus It is holden by them that be lerned in the lawe of this realme that the parlyamente hathe an absolute power as to the possessyon of all temporall thynges within thys realme in whose handes so euer they be / spyrytualle or temporalle / to take theym from one manne and gyue theym to an other / wythoute any cause or consyderacyon For yf they doo it it byndeth in the lawe And yf there be a consideracion / that hit byndethe in lawe and conscience And certayne it is that all suche Mortuaryes were temporalle goodes / thoughe they were claymed by spyrytualle menne And the cause why they were taken awaye was for as moche as there were fewe thynges within this realme that caused more varyaunce among the people than they dyd / whan they were suffered for they were taken so farre agaynst the order of the kynges lawes and against Iustyce and ryght as shall hereafter appere Fyrste they were taken nat onely after the dethe of the husbande but also after the dethe of the wyfe whiche after the lawes of the realme had no goodes but that it was taken of the husbandes goodes / and they were taken also of seruauntes and chyldren as well infantes as other And if a man died by the waye and had an housholde in an other place he shulde paye mortuaries in bothe places And some tyme whan the parson / and vicar of a church appropried / varied for the mortuaries the people as it hath ben reported haue ben enforced er they coulde sytte in reste / to pay in some places mortuaries to them bothe And somtyme the curates wolde prohybyte pore men to sell theyr goodes in tyme of theyr sicknes if they were suche goodes as were lyke to be theyr mortuaries for they wolde say it was done in defraude of the churche And yf the quyck goodes were better than the deed goodes they wolde in some places take the quycke And yf the deade goodes were better than the quycke they wolde take the dead And the mortuaryes muste be delyuered furthewith or elles the bodye shulde nat be buryed
And they prescrybed to haue ryghte to mortuaries onely by the prescription of the spirituall law And vnder that maner mortuaries encreassed dayly in manye places / where they hadde nat bene vsed before / and of lykelyhode wolde haue gone farther yf they had nat ben stopped in tyme. And they were in many places taken in suche maner / that it made the people to thynk that the curates loued theyr mortuaries better than theyr lyues And thereupon rose in many places great diuision and grudge betwyxte theym whiche broke the peace loue charitie that shuld be betwene the curate and his parysshens to the greate vnquietnes of many of the kynges subiectes as well spirituall as temporall / and to the great daunger and perylle of theyr soules For these causes the said mortuaries be adnulled by parlyament / as well in conscience as in the lawe And yet it is sayde that some curates vse great extremities concernyng the sayde mortuaries a nother waye and that is this If the executours at the fyrste request pay nat the money that is appoynted by the statute / they wyl anon haue a citacion agaynst hym And there he shal be so handeled that as it is sayde it hadde ben mooste commenly moche better too hym too haue payde his olde mortuarie than the costes and expenses that he shall paye there And yf it be so it wolde be refourmed And surely this matter wolde be groundly loked vpon for some men saye that the sute in that case oughte to be taken in the kynges courte / and nat in the spyrytuall courte ¶ Other occasions of this diuision The tenthe Chapyter THe extreme and couetouse demeanour of some curates with theyr parisshens / wherof mencion is partely made hereafter hathe ben an other cause of this diuision And though many spyrytuall men be nat felowes with them in the extremities yet non of them that haue ben best and moost indifferent haue nat done any thynge to refourme theym that vse suche extremities / ne to make them thynke that any defaut is in theym in that doynge but rather as it were with a deafe eare haue dissimuled it and suffred it passe ouer / and haue endeuoured them selfe more to oppresse all the lay people that wolde speke against it than to refourme them that do it And some of the sayde extremytyes be those Some say that in takynge of tythes curates in some places wyll haue the .x. parte of euery thynge within the parysshe that is tythable though theyr predecessours withoute tyme of mynde haue bene contented withoute hit and though there be sufficient besyde for the curate to lyue on or though he hath nat knowen but that percase some other thynge in olde tyme hath bene assigned in recompens for it And in som place is asked as it is sayde tythe bothe of chekyns and egges and in some place of mylke and chese and in some place the x. parte of the grounde and also of that that falleth on the grouÌ„de And in some places is claimed tithe of seruantes wages without deduction And it is but in few places that any seruaunte shall goo quite without som tithe payeng / though he haue spent al in syckenes or vpon his father and mother / or suche other necessarie expences And in som places if a parissheÌ„ haue nat x. calues that yere the curate wyll put the tythynge of tyll another yere / and than to take a tythe calfe accomptynge bothe yeres togyther / rather than he wold the fyrst yere take the money that is in that case assigned by the lawe And they doo lykewyse of lambes pygges and suche other thynges Also in many places the curates take more at maryages buryals and obites than they were wont to do and wyll nat bury a straunger that dyeth within the parysshe but he haue some what for it Also some curates / whan there is any varyaunce betwene hym and any of his parisshens or that any of his parysshens be in his det hathe prohybyte them fro howsell tylle he be payde And it hathe bene somtyme sene that whan a poore man hathe ben sette to be houseled the curate hathe before all the parysshe vpon some suche displeasure caused hym to ryse and goo awaye without housell to his rebuke And though these abusyons be nat vsed vnyuersallye god forbyd they shulde for there be many good curates and other spyrytuall men that wolde nat vse them for the wynnynge or lesynge of noerthly thynges yet whan people of dyuers contrees mete to gyther / and one of them telleth an other of some suche extremities in some curates in his contreye and the other lykewyse to hym anone they esteme suche couetyse and extreme delynge to be in al curates And though they do nat well in that doynge / for the offence of one prieste is no offence to an other yf they so wyll take it Yet spirituall men do nothynge therin to brynge the people oute of that iudgement but suffre suche abusions to be vsed by some of them continually without correction / and as I haue sayd before wyl rather laboure to stoppe the mouthes of them that wyll fynde defaulte at suche demeanoure than to helpe to refourme them that do it And surely as longe as they do so hit wyll be very harde to haue a good vnitie and peace in this behalfe ¶ Other causes of the sayd diuision The .xi. Chapiter AN other thynge that hath caused the people to grudge agaynste the pope other spirituall rulers hath ben the grauntynge of pardons for money For whaÌ„ it hathe benne noysed that the money shulde be bestowed to somme charitable vse as vppon the buyldynge of sayncte Peters churche in Rome or to suche other charitable vse it hathe appered afterwarde euidently that it hath nat ben disposed to that vse And that hath caused many to thynke that the sayde pardons were graunted rather of couetice than of charitie or for the helthe of the soules of the people And therupon some haue fallen in maner in to dyspysynge of pardons as though pardons graunted vpon suche couetise shulde nat auaile And because the people be greately deceyued in that iudgemente / for as to the taker the pardone is good though the grauntor offend in his grauntyng of the pardon Therefore it is right necessary / that the rulers take hede that pardons be herafter graunted in suche charitable maner that the people shall haue no occasion ne coloure to thynke that they be grauÌ„ted of couetice And than the grauÌ„toures shall profytte them selfe in theyr graunte / and the people also in theyr takynge and elles it maye lyghtely hurte them bothe And verely it were greate pitie that any myslykynge of pardons shulde growe in the hertes of the people for any misdemeanor in the grauntours or otherwyse / for they be ryghte necessarie And I suppose that if certein ê‘dons were grauÌ„ted frely without money for sayeng of certein prayers therin to be appointed that all mislikynge of pardons wolde